Yoho, a Republican and member of the Tea Party caucus, has been in office less than a year, but he is at the center of a controversy about whether to extend the federal government’s borrowing limit.

He has attracted national attention for comparing the government’s debts to those of his large-animal veterinary business and saying that the country could default with little consequence.

The debt ceiling is the amount of money Congress authorizes the nation to borrow to pay its debts. The U.S. Treasury has warned that unless the United States extends its borrowing limit by Oct. 17, it risks defaulting on its obligations, including bond payments to foreign nations. Economists say a default could be devastating to the economy, sending interest rates soaring, causing panic in the stock market and roiling world economies, which look to the United States for stability.

Undaunted, Yoho told the Washington Post: “I think we need to have that moment where we realize (we’re) going broke. I think, personally, it would bring stability to the world markets .”

That view is widely rebutted — and not just among Democrats.

“It’s crazy, the whole thing is just crazy,” said Kerry Kirschner, a Republican and executive director of the pro-business public policy group The Argus Foundation in Sarasota. “Anybody who says it won’t affect the economy and business knows nothing about the economy and business.”

Even the suggestion that the government could choose to pay some of its bills and not others is a prescription for disaster, Kirschner said. He compared it to a family deciding to pay its mortgage, but not pay its credit cards, leading to stiff penalties and a bad credit rating, doing greater harm in the long run.

Yoho, 58, is more than an outlier, though.

Last year, he defeated 12-term incumbent Cliff Stearns, a Republican, in the primary for Florida’s 3rd District congressional seat. Yoho, running on the slogan “Had enough?”, then easily won the general election in his conservative district, joining a Tea Party faction that has been at the center of shutting down the government.

While the government shutdown, entering its 11th day today, has received more attention, many economists warn that the fight over the debt ceiling poses a greater threat.

Yoho is among a group of House Republicans that the website Politico dubbed the “Debt Limit Deniers,” some of whom say a default would create “the radical shock therapy” the nation needs to live within its means.

Randy McClendon, a Tea Party leader from Englewood, said he was not familiar with Yoho, but agreed that Congress does not need to raise the borrowing limit.

McClendon said that the government generates more than enough income monthly from taxes and other sources to pay its debts.

“The fact is, there should be no concern about default because the money is there,” McClendon said.

Attempts to reach Yoho for comment were unsuccessful. But he has said defaulting on some debt was acceptable.

“Everybody talks about how destabilizing doing this will be on the markets. And you’ll see that initially, but heck, I’ve seen that in my business,” he told the New York Times. “You address your creditors and say, ‘Listen, we’re going to pay you. We’re just not going to pay you today’ ”

Chris McCarty, director of the University of Florida’s, Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said he does not know of a single economist who agrees with Yoho’s theory.

The U.S. has defaulted only once, McCarty said — and that was by accident in 1979 when a word-processing glitch went undetected for a few days. The government missed $120 million in payments and ended up owing $12 billion in interest and penalties. With inflation and the vastly increased U.S. debt, now near $17 trillion, “the consequences today would be far, far more severe.”

Businessweek called Yoho’s theory “the dumbest thing said about the debt ceiling.” In a column in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Republican strategist Karl Rove wrote that “Yoho has talked himself into a dead-end losing situation.”

Closer to home, the Gainesville Sun said it had received numerous letters from Yoho’s constituents, saying they were “horrified” and “ashamed” by Yoho’s comments, and published the phone numbers to Yoho’s office, encouraging readers to call.

McCarty said he understands the “logic” of Yoho’s position. The forced cuts made by Congress under the sequestration this year and even the recent government shutdown have not caused a crisis. But McCarty said they have stifled the economy and diminished consumer confidence.

A debt default poses a far greater threat, one that McCarty said would harm the economy worse than the Great Recession. Among the risk is that the credit rating of the United States would be reduced, costing the government — and ultimately, taxpayers — far more to borrow money.

“And it makes no sense, because this is something we could easily avoid,” McCarty said.

Kirschner of the Argus Foundation calls the rise of Yoho and other Tea Party activists one of the “saddest” developments he has seen in government.

“These are obviously well-intentioned people,” he said. “But they have no idea about business and the business of governing. Republicans stood for fiscal responsibility — paying your debts. What they are saying is counter to what most Republicans thought they stood for.”

At Karol and Bill’s Plaza Coffee Shop in Gainesville, owner Karol Alves said her customers are simmering over the mess in Washington, D.C., and blaming Yoho for part of it.

“The Republicans aren’t saying, ‘Stick it to the Democrats’ anymore,” she said. “They’re just embarrassed by what he is doing.”

U.S. Rep. Ted YohoAge: 58
Profession: Congressman, Florida’s 3rd District, Veterinarian
Party: Republican
Education: University of Florida
Family: Married with three children

David Hackett

David Hackett has nearly 30 years experience as a reporter and editor, currently as assistant managing editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.com.
He can be reached by email or call (941) 315-0631.
Make sure to "Like" HT Politics on Facebook for all your breaking political news.

Last modified: October 10, 2013
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published without permissions. Links are encouraged.